This is the only other time that I recall Pfingstrosen (Peonies)
blooming at Pfingsten (Pentecost) in the 42 years I have spent in
Canada. What a treat it is to see these magnificent big blooms
in their full glory. The kind of weather we have had in May is
unbelievably fantastic and made gardening joyous as well as a
bit of a challenge, since everything happened so fast. Planted
Gladiolas came out of the ground within 3 days! Cornflowers and
roses, usually delighting us during a hot June or July are
already at their prime. Clematis reached an unbelievable size
and look like huge heavenly stars.

The raccoons are a bit of a pest, because they are extra hungry
while feeding their offspring. Rather than letting them get
unruly with the garbage I feed them occasionally the leftovers
that otherwise would go into the bin. Thus they leave the
garbage alone, are happy and healthy and do not cause trouble
for the cats in the neighborhood. As a matter of fact they
co-exist very well.

I have not met any of the young ones yet. Mom does not let them
out of their den yet, but by Canada Day they will come around
being introduced by their mother to “the crazy German lady that
feeds everything”: the birds, squirrels, cats and coons.

YES! And I get a tremendous amount of pleasure from it! I also
try to plant my garden more and more to accommodate bees and
butterflies. I am just so astounded how much wildlife there is
in the city. I am equally astounded and annoyed by how many
stray cats this city produces, which is simply a sign of
people’s lack of responsibility and not understanding how
important it is to fix a cat and take care of it properly.
Perhaps I should not be surprised since the official places for
the protection of animals lately has not done a great job
either.

We are facing all the problems of summer already. The race for
just the right features to make an outdoor living room has begun
and sun umbrellas were already sold out in some places. On the
hottest day so far, at 30 degrees Celsius, we made it to our all
time favorite beach on Lake Erie. Since we played hooky in the
middle of the week we had the beach practically to ourselves.
This was most unusual for a European visitor we have as a
houseguest from Austria, who is of course used to much more
populated beaches.

Another delight was meeting Justin Trudeau in person. He proved
to be as charming and eloquent as we expected him to be from
having followed his rather public life.

On the art scene we enjoyed Via Salzburg’s last concert of a
season. And a few folk festivities in our various clubs rounded
out a busy month of May.

We are looking forward to all festivities of the summer and
shall report to you all we can. A lady from Nova Scotia is
inspired to move back to Toronto after reading about the
activities in our communities in Echo Germanica. She feels a bit
homesick.

I also want to let you know that the interview with Mutti Piller
had to be postponed.